Comments for Web Buffet http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog Natterings of an SA Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:23:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 Comment on Working at Google by warnera6 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/02/28/working-at-google/#comment-108 warnera6 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:45:41 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/02/28/working-at-google/#comment-108 Yeah I feel like it happens sometimes, work is very interesting here (if a bit boring right now) and I'm also moving, thus my Gentoo time is limited. I hope to expand on the time once moving is complete ;) Yeah I feel like it happens sometimes, work is very interesting here (if a bit boring right now) and I’m also moving, thus my Gentoo time is limited. I hope to expand on the time once moving is complete ;)

]]> Comment on Working at Google by Stuart Herbert http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/02/28/working-at-google/#comment-107 Stuart Herbert Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:42:09 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/02/28/working-at-google/#comment-107 Congrats on joining the growing number of Gentoo folks at Google. Here's hoping you don't disappear into a black hole like everyone else has :( Best regards, Stu Congrats on joining the growing number of Gentoo folks at Google. Here’s hoping you don’t disappear into a black hole like everyone else has :(

Best regards,
Stu

]]> Comment on Fun with Gentoo, ‘whiners’ and Maintainer-Needed by Dave http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/22/fun-with-gentoo-whiners-and-maintainer-needed/#comment-70 Dave Tue, 23 Jan 2007 06:46:46 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/22/fun-with-gentoo-whiners-and-maintainer-needed/#comment-70 You just need to ignore the whiners. I was a whiner once, when I was a n00b many years ago. Then I realized how it all worked and I stopped whining. Most whiners are probably also n00bs. You just need to ignore the whiners. I was a whiner once, when I was a n00b many years ago. Then I realized how it all worked and I stopped whining. Most whiners are probably also n00bs.

]]> Comment on Burnout by Caster http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/18/burnout/#comment-69 Caster Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:37:29 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/18/burnout/#comment-69 Go watch some anime to relax :) Go watch some anime to relax :)

]]> Comment on Working as a Team: Criticism and Respect by kojiro http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-68 kojiro Sun, 14 Jan 2007 15:00:01 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-68 Ciaran said, "Criticism of a bad idea should not be withheld merely because there is no better alternative." Well-founded criticism, maybe. It's far too common, however, to come across such poorly-planned pop-criticism such as "War is not the answer... [but this bumper sticker is?]". I'd propose the following cascading rules-of-thumb for criticizing an alleged bad idea: 1) Have a better idea. If that's not possible: 2) Have several reasons why the idea doesn't suit your needs. (I think probably "ill-suited" is a better word than "bad" in almost all cases of so-called "bad" ideas.) If that's not possible: 3) Have an unemotional discussion as to why you don't like the idea. Open a discourse. If that's not possible: 4) Accept defeat. Having an argument is like playing snaps -- the first person to lash out loses. Trying to anger your opponent might work on the high school debate team, but in real life it can only damage a project with a common end-goal. Ciaran said, “Criticism of a bad idea should not be withheld merely because there is no better alternative.”

Well-founded criticism, maybe. It’s far too common, however, to come across such poorly-planned pop-criticism such as “War is not the answer… [but this bumper sticker is?]”. I’d propose the following cascading rules-of-thumb for criticizing an alleged bad idea:
1) Have a better idea. If that’s not possible:
2) Have several reasons why the idea doesn’t suit your needs. (I think probably “ill-suited” is a better word than “bad” in almost all cases of so-called “bad” ideas.) If that’s not possible:
3) Have an unemotional discussion as to why you don’t like the idea. Open a discourse. If that’s not possible:
4) Accept defeat. Having an argument is like playing snaps — the first person to lash out loses. Trying to anger your opponent might work on the high school debate team, but in real life it can only damage a project with a common end-goal.

]]> Comment on Working as a Team: Criticism and Respect by cshields http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-66 cshields Mon, 08 Jan 2007 01:30:59 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-66 Good synopsis. The Gentoo team would be 10x better to work in if everyone followed these guidelines. For the small subset of people who just don't wish to get along, check out the presentation done many times by Ben Collins-Sussman and Brian Fitzpatrick, "How to protect your open source project from poisonous people". There is a pdf of their slides linked below, but if you have the chance to hear the experiences and points they make at a conference, do it. (they give this talk many times in many places). http://www.red-bean.com/dav/presentations/Poisonous-people.pdf -C Good synopsis. The Gentoo team would be 10x better to work in if everyone followed these guidelines. For the small subset of people who just don’t wish to get along, check out the presentation done many times by Ben Collins-Sussman and Brian Fitzpatrick, “How to protect your open source project from poisonous people”. There is a pdf of their slides linked below, but if you have the chance to hear the experiences and points they make at a conference, do it. (they give this talk many times in many places).

http://www.red-bean.com/dav/presentations/Poisonous-people.pdf

-C

]]> Comment on Working as a Team: Criticism and Respect by Alec http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-65 Alec Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:56:29 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-65 Ciaran, I actually agree with you on that. A similar argument struck me but I found it difficult to put into words. Mostly because without a better suggestion it leads to a slippery slope that many ideas are then classified as "worse than doing nothing". Certainly there are ideas that fall into this category, but it is hard to figure out if there has been an error in classification because the terms of classification seem very broad to me. In the end for this argument to work against concept X, one would have to argue the negative merits of X, as well as pointing out why doing nothing is in fact better than X. Since in the end, the 'better alternative' to X is in fact nothing at all. Ciaran, I actually agree with you on that. A similar argument struck me but I found it difficult to put into words. Mostly because without a better suggestion it leads to a slippery slope that many ideas are then classified as “worse than doing nothing”. Certainly there are ideas that fall into this category, but it is hard to figure out if there has been an error in classification because the terms of classification seem very broad to me.

In the end for this argument to work against concept X, one would have to argue the negative merits of X, as well as pointing out why doing nothing is in fact better than X. Since in the end, the ‘better alternative’ to X is in fact nothing at all.

]]> Comment on Working as a Team: Criticism and Respect by Ciaran McCreesh http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-64 Ciaran McCreesh Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:18:26 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-64 It is easy to say why, say, shooting every tenth person in Iraq is a bad idea for fixing the country's problems. It is not so easy to give an idea that works. Criticism of a bad idea should not be withheld merely because there is no better alternative. If an idea is sufficiently bad, doing nothing is better than going ahead with it. It is easy to say why, say, shooting every tenth person in Iraq is a bad idea for fixing the country’s problems. It is not so easy to give an idea that works.

Criticism of a bad idea should not be withheld merely because there is no better alternative. If an idea is sufficiently bad, doing nothing is better than going ahead with it.

]]> Comment on Working as a Team: Criticism and Respect by nightmorph http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-63 nightmorph Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:42:08 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2007/01/07/working-as-a-team-criticism-and-respect/#comment-63 Fan-freakin'-tastic, Alec. Good post, most excellent. :) Fan-freakin’-tastic, Alec. Good post, most excellent. :)

]]> Comment on Gentoo Troubles Part 1 by Alec http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2006/11/30/gentoo-troubles-part-1/#comment-62 Alec Fri, 08 Dec 2006 04:30:28 +0000 http://alec.scriptkitty.com/blog/2006/11/30/gentoo-troubles-part-1/#comment-62 Er, it's my blog; so I guess I can ramble as much as I like :) Er, it’s my blog; so I guess I can ramble as much as I like :)

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